One day Sage Bhrigu came to meet Jalandhar. After receiving him with due respect Jalandhar asked him as to who severed the head of Rahu.
Sage Bhrigu then told him about Hiranyakashipu who was the maternal uncle of Rahu. Sage
Bhrigu also told him about Virochana – the son of the extremely charitable king Bali. Then sage
Bhrigu narrated the tale connected with the churning of ocean and how ambrosia emerged from the churning of the ocean.
Sage Bhrigu told Jalandhar how Rahu’s head was severed by lord Vishnu, while he was sitting among the deities and at the time when ambrosia was being distributed to all the deities.
Jalandhar became very furious after hearing this story. He summoned one of his messengers whose name was Ghasmar and instructed him to go and ask Indra, as to why had he misappropriated all the wealth of his father (Sea) which emerged during the churning of Sea. He also instructed Ghasmar to warn Indra about the dire consequences unless he takes his (Indra’s) refuge.
But Indra sent back Ghasmar without any specific assurance. This action of Indra made
Jalandhar more angry than before. He collected his army and attacked Indra.
A fierce battle was fought between his army and the army of the deities. Many warriors got killed from both the sides. Shukracharya the guru of the deities brought back the dead warriors from the demon side back to life by his mritasanjivani vidya. Similarly Sage Brihaspati brought back the dead warriors from the deities‘ side back to life with the help of medicinal herbs.
When Shukracharya saw that, sage Brihaspati too was successfully making the dead deities alive, he instructed Jalandhar to submerge the Drongiri mountain into the sea, so that it becomes impossible for Brihaspati to get the medicinal herbs by the help of which he made the dead deities alive.
Jalandhar obeyed the command of Shukracharya and by lifting the Drongiri mountain submerged it into the sea. The deities became demoralized and fled from the battlefield Jalandhar captured Indrapuri.
The terrified deities took the refuge of lord Vishnu and sought his help. Lord Vishnu gave a patient hearing and agreed to help them, but there was a hitch. His consort goddess Lakshmi considered Jalandhar as her brother because both of them originated from the sea. She instructed Lord Vishnu against killing Jalandhar.
Lord Vishnu promised to her that he won’t kill Jalandhar. After giving his word to goddess
Lakshmi, he went to fight a battle with Jalandhar.
A fierce battle was fought between both of them which remained indecisive till the end. Lord Vishnu became very much impressed by the valiance of Jalandhar and asked him to demand any boon he liked.
Jalandhar requested him to make his dwelling in the Ksheersagar-the abode of Jalandhar, along with his sister (Lakshmi). Lord Vishnu agreed to fulfill his wish and started living in the Ksheersagar along with his consort Lakshmi.
Being undefeated by Lord Vishnu himself, Jalandhar became the ruler of all the three world. All his subjects were satisfied by his just and virtuous rule, except the deities. The deities now eulogized lord Shiva to seek his help in defeating Jalandhar.
According to the wish of lord Shiva, Sage Narada came to meet the deities. The deities narrated their woeful tales to him. Feeling pity on their condition, he went accorded a grand reception by Jalandhar which pleased him very much.
Narada praised the splendours and prosperity of Jalandhar but added that it was nothing in comparison to Shiva’s splendours Narada told him that inspite of all his authority and splendours, his prosperity was still incomplete, as he did not have a consort. Jalandhar asked curiously as to where could he find his consort.
According to his strategy, Narada advised Jalandhar to make Parvati as his consort Jalandhar fell into Narada’s trap. He sent ‘Rahu’ to lord Shiva with a proposal to part with Parvati. Rahu went to lord Shiva and demanded Parvati, which made lord Shiva extremely furious. His anger resulted into the manifestation of a ferocious creature, which ran towards ‘Rahu’ to devour him. Rahu had no option but to take the refuge of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva protected the life of ‘Rahu’.
The hungry creature, asked Shiva as to what should he eat to satisfy his hunger. Lord Shiva instructed him to devour his own limbs. The creative followed his instructions and devoured his limbs. Lord Shiva was very pleased by his sense of obedience. He named that creature of his palace. He also blessed him saying that he too would be worshipped along with him (Shiva).